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Leela James Information
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'Leela James' is an African American Los Angeles native and soul singer who cites James Brown, Roberta Flack, Marvin Gaye, Donny Hathaway, Gladys Knight, Mavis Staples and Stevie Wonder as influences. Her deep, rich and gritty vocals easily draw comparisons to Aretha Franklin, Chaka Khan and Tina Turner.
Her debut album was released on June 21 2005, entitled A Change Is Gonna Come. The album is a soul music record incorporating the styles of 1960s and 1970s American soul singers, with a mixture of funk, R&B and gospel influences. The first single from the album, entitled "Music," laments what Leela James sees as the decline of hip hop and soul music and asks for a return to the artistry of musicians of earlier decades. Leela co-wrote most of the tracks on her debut album, with two notable exceptions being her cover of No Doubt's "Don't Speak," and the classic song by Sam Cooke for which the album is named. Famous collaborators on the album include Raphael Saadiq of the 1990s R&B group Tony! Toni! Tone!, hip hop producer and emcee Kanye West and former Fugees member Wyclef Jean.
In musical style and lyrical content, she is comparable to other African American female soul music artists who began to emerge on the scene in the mid-1990s, such as Erykah Badu, Angie Stone, Jill Scott and Jaguar Wright. In 2004, she toured as an opening act for popular rap quartet Black Eyed Peas and the famously eccentric and raspy-voiced singer Macy Gray. That same year, she was featured on hip hop producer, DJ and emcee Pete Rock's album entitled Soul Survivor II, providing the vocals for the soulful track "No Tears." In 2005, she lent her vocals to the posthumously-released Ray Charles album Genius & Friends, dueting with the legendary singer on the song "Compared to What."
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